An Unconventional Countess (Regency Belles of Bath 1)

‘Maybe they’ll think it’s about time.’

‘Oh... Will you start us off?’

‘If you like.’ Anna rose to her feet, sucking in a deep breath and then letting it out again in a roar.

‘There.’ She folded her arms. ‘That’s how you do it.’

Lady Staunton looked impressed, rubbing her nose vigorously with the handkerchief before standing up, tipping back her head and screaming so loudly that Anna had to steel herself not to wince. It was a wonder the windows didn’t all crack at the sound.

‘Very good.’ She lifted an eyebrow once her ears had stopped ringing. ‘Feel better?’

‘Yes.’ The other woman started to smile and then clutched Anna’s hand at the sound of running footsteps in the hall. ‘Oh, dear. Maybe that wasn’t such a good idea, after all...’

Chapter Twenty

Samuel stood in the doorway, gaping in amazement at the sight of Anna and Lady Staunton standing side by side, holding hands. Neither of them appeared to be in any pain, as he’d assumed when he’d first heard the blood-curdling screams emanating from the drawing room, though their expressions weren’t particularly reassuring, either.

‘Samuel?’ Anna spoke first, the look on her face turning from anxious to determined. ‘Lady Staunton has something she needs to tell you.’

‘Wha—?’ His voice faltered as he noticed the cushion tucked under Clarissa’s arm, then her noticeably flatter stomach.

‘You’re not pregnant.’ A rush of horror slammed into him like a fist. Suddenly, he wished himself a thousand miles away, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean preferably.

‘I’m sorry.’ Clarissa looked genuinely shame-faced. ‘I never meant for it to go this far.’

‘You’re not pregnant.’ He repeated the words, as if they might make more sense to him the second time.

‘No.’

‘You’ve been pretending this whole time?’

She nodded, her voice falling to a low whisper. ‘I know it was wrong.’

‘You lied to me!’ He didn’t intend to raise his voice, but he couldn’t stop himself. Five minutes ago he’d been happily anticipating leaving Staunton. Two minutes ago he’d been running down the stairs in alarm. Now...now he felt several stages beyond furious. She’d lied! On top of everything else his family had done, she’d lied just to keep him out of the family! As if everything about him were so objectionable! Worse even than that, though, was the shock. He’d thought that he had another month to prepare for the possibility of becoming an earl, a month to spend with Anna, but now that future had been stolen away from him. His fate was sealed. He was the Earl of Staunton, his father’s son, the unwanted but last surviving male heir from a jaded line of a once-illustrious family. There was no fighting that legacy any longer. He felt so disorientated that he had to clutch the door to stop the world from spinning around him. It was like sea sickness, only without the sea.

And now Anna, the one person he’d thought understood how he felt, was standing alongside the woman who’d deceived him, as if she wasn’t angry at all. As if she’d sided with his family against him, too!

‘Samuel?’ Anna advanced towards him, her expression concerned. ‘Perhaps you should sit down? You don’t look well.’

‘No.’ He lifted a hand, preventing her from coming any closer as he narrowed his eyes at Lady Staunton instead. ‘Your maids. They must have known. They must have helped you.’

‘Ye-es.’ He was pleased to see her face register panic. ‘But only because they’re loyal to me.’

‘According to the law, they were my staff, not yours.’ His voice sounded different even to him. Hard and grating and implacable. ‘That kind of disobedience is grounds for dismissal.’

‘Samuel!’ Anna gasped. ‘You wouldn’t!’

‘Why not?’ He couldn’t bring himself to look at her. ‘I’m the Earl now, aren’t I? That means I can dismiss whoever I want and I want to be rid of everyone who knew about this.’

‘They only helped me because I begged them to.’

‘Well, now you can tell them the consequences.’

Lady Staunton’s whole body started shaking, though whether from shock or anger he couldn’t tell. ‘In that case, they can accompany me to the dower house.’

‘I think not.’ He turned on his heel, too angry to be in the same room with either of them any longer. ‘You can find somewhere else to live, Countess. I want you gone from Staunton by tonight.’

* * *